


The Man Who Stepped Off the Path

by ladyvenoms



Category: Nagron - Fandom, Spartacus Series (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-29
Updated: 2015-07-06
Packaged: 2018-04-01 19:32:54
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,840
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4031959
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladyvenoms/pseuds/ladyvenoms
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A young woman is found murdered and Saxa and Agron are on the case to find out who killed her. What they uncover is a web of lies and horror. One man could hold the key to solving the mystery but can they wrest the truth from him without being caught up. It might not be the case for Agron.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> This story has been floating around my head for a year or so. I know we are all supposed to hate the Romans but they are so damn interesting!

After being on call for fourteen straight hours, Inspector Saxa Stranger had broken her rule of not drinking coffee after sunset by gulping down a large latte. It was one of many rules she had broken; the biggest one being sleeping with her supervisor Gannicus O’Meara again. Nonetheless, she was at another crime scene struggling to hold on to a huge coffee cup and fix her fucked up hair in the rearview mirror of her car.

She spotted a large, red mark on the left side of her neck and whined. She hadn’t had to suffer from hickeys since her teens. Now she was left with waltzing around with a flipped up collar and her hair down in an effort to cover them. It was worth not answering awkward questions, though. She dealt with enough speculation over her life, she didn’t need more.

While she checked to see if the hickey was adequately concealed, there was a sharp rap on the driver’s side window. She recoiled at the sight of her partner, Agron peering at her from the outside.

“Are you going to stay inside and primp all night?” He asked. His voice sounded muffled through the glass. He was a towering Westerner with short, brown hair and green eyes. He looked more like a burned out rugby player than a cop.

“Hold on to your testicles, Mr. Charming. I’m coming!” She then grabbed her mobile, flashlight and notepad in one hand while still holding the cup as she climbed out of the car. “Okay, what have we got?”

Agron followed in step beside her as they made their way to the crime scene. “Uh, a female, white, mid-20’s, found shot to death in the parking structure just ahead.”

“No witnesses?” Saxa asked before she took another swig.

“Only the bloke who found her, so far. Patrol is trying to reach the owners of the building to see if there was a security camera in the area.”

“No I.D on her?”

“None.”

“Oh I just love those.” She sighed.

When they reached the top level of the parking structure, the scene was bustling with uniforms, crime scene investigators and looky loos. Saxa and Agron ducked under the yellow tape surrounding the body simultaneously. They were met by a barrel chested patrolman who had a mobile phone stuck to his ear.

“Donar, what cha got?” Saxa asked.

The policeman glanced at them briefly, “I’m on the line with the building owner. He says the only security on site is one at the entrance gate.” He replied.

“Tell him we need the footage.” Agron barked.

“I’m doing that right now, Inspector.”

“Tonight. Not when he decides to in the morning.”

“Yes sir.”

Saxa drifted over to the female coroner who was tapping briskly on a department issued iPad. “Hey Naevia. Good to see you again, even if it’s under circumstances like this.” Naevia was a favorite on the coroner’s squad due to pleasant disposition and professional manner. She had just returned from maternity leave. Saxa was extremely glad to see the pretty woman, brown skinned woman there, if nothing more than to offset the overabundance of testosterone on the scene.

“Hey Saxa,” Naevia said brightly after she finished her business.

“So what do we have here?”

Naevia  squatted near the body which was covered in a white sheet and pulled up a corner of it so that Saxa could take a close look at the victim. “A gunshot wound to the head with a small caliber weapon at close range. It’s either a .32 or .38, I’m guessing.” Naevia pointed to the small dark circle on located on the upper side of the woman’s forehead. “This is the entrance wound, about five centimeters from the left eyebrow.” She then gently turned the girl’s head so that Saxa could see the blood covered scalp. “This is the exit wound. As you can see, it’s pretty good sized hole.”

Saxa grimaced and then scanned the rest of the body. The woman was a brunette and her brown eyes were open, frozen in death. She was casually dressed in a flowered blouse, jeans and sandals. “She’s fully dressed so no sign of sexual assault?”

“No, but we’ll swab her mouth, her fingernail beds and do a kit just in case.” Naevia stated and pulled the sheet back over the woman’s head.

“Thanks, Naev. I’ll see you after the autopsy.”

Naevia smiled brightly, “Sure thing.”

Meanwhile, Agron was shadowing the lead crime scene investigator, Diotimus as he examined a bullet casing inside of a plastic evidence bag, “Just one so far?”

“Looks like it.” Diotimus replied without looking at him. “We’ve got uniforms scouring the area, but I’m thinking we’re not going to find anymore.”

“Alright, let us know of you find anything else. Like, who she might be.”

“Got it,” Diotimus mumbled.

*****

Later back at the precinct, Saxa and Agron were reviewing the parking structure security camera footage.  Saxa could name a million other places she would rather be than sitting in a cold, AV room with Agron noisily munching popcorn near her ear.

She rolled her eyes and sighed, “Do you mind?”

“What?” Agron asked between mouthfuls. “I’m starving.” He held out the bag. “Maybe if you had some, you wouldn’t be complaining.”

“No thanks. I’m full. And this,” She pointed to the small monitor. “Is pretty boring.” After mulling through an hour’s worth of footage, they had found no sign of their victim driving in. The gates were fully automated so there was no attendant available as a possible witness.

“Do you think she walked in and used one of the stairwells?” Agron mused as he placed the bag of popcorn on top of the monitor and glanced at the map of the structure.

“It’s possible.” She replied quietly. “There are a ton of scenarios running through my mind right now. Knowing who she is and where she came from could help eliminate a few. Any hits on the fingerprint database?”

“Nope,” Agron said while sucking popcorn kernels from his teeth. The system is down. The comp nerds say they probably can’t get it up and running until tomorrow.”

She ran her hand over face in exhaustion. “Shit.”

There was a knock on the door and Gannicus stuck his head through the door. “Hey, found anything yet?”

They both answered, “No.”

He stepped inside the room and squinted at the tiny screen that replayed car after car entering the structure. “Unfortunately this has been one giant clusterfuck of a night: a murder-suicide on the Westside and a triple murder up North. We had to pull the patrol slated for your witness hunt to cover those scenes, sorry.”

Saxa and Agron groaned in unison. Gannicus news meant that they would have to be out up and early, hoofing it through the business sector, interviewing people who may have seen something. Saxa could foresee a pair of hurt feet and a heap of frustration in her future.

Gannicus smirked at his detectives’ reaction. “So I think you two should head on home for the night. This footage will be here when you return. Besides, I.T has managed to fuck up our intake database. We can’t access any records.” They groaned again.

 Agron bounded up out his chair, grabbed his suit jacket. “Catch ya later.”

“Hey!” Saxa called after him and held up the abandoned popcorn bag. “Take this with you. Crixus’ OCD will go into overdrive if he sees this.” The smell of the buttered popcorn was turning her stomach too.

Agron took the bag and waved at them as he left the room. Saxa yawned as she turned off the monitors and recorder. She noticed that Gannicus had not moved and was peering at her intently.

“Is there something else you wanted, O’Meara?”

“I just wanted to know where you were going to spend the night.”

She chuffed, “At my place and in my own bed.”

“I see.”

“And my only bedmate will be my cat.”

Gannicus nodded but he did not move out of her way. “Are you sure you don’t want some company?”

Saxa blinked slowly. “Yes I’m sure. I’m trying to keep this discreet. Can you try and do the same?”

“Of course I am!” Gannicus cried. “I fully understand what would happen if word about us got out.”

“I hope you do because I have a lot more to lose than you if it did.” She sidestepped him and walked out of the room, smartly closing the door behind her. She really couldn’t understand why she had gotten involved with Gannicus in the first place. He was boorish at times, slightly sexist, and couldn’t hold his liquor. He was a good cop though and a decent supervisor. He had led his homicide unit to a ninety-percent completion rate. He also had the sexiest brown eyes she had ever come across. And the things he could do in the bedroom…She blinked again and figured out why she was involved with him. As stupid and reckless as it was, she knew why.

Her car beeped and its headlights blinked as she disabled the alarm from her keychain. She heard a loud curse in the air and looked around the parking lot of the police station to see her partner standing near his own car. She was surprised that Agron had not left before her but he seemed to be engaged in a heated conversation with someone over the phone.

She didn’t waste any more time trying to figure out what was going on. Agron would tell her when they next met anyway. She had become his unwilling sounding board for his relationship problems. If it wasn’t the back and forth between him and his ex; it was his frustration with his good for nothing, moocher of a brother she had to hear about. She knew the time was going to have to come when she and he would have a ‘Come to Jesus’ meeting about it. She liked Agron a lot. He was whip smart, tough and hardworking, but his problems were beginning to spill into his work life. He was often moody and grumpy as of late. Frankly, it was becoming a drag to be around him.

When she finally got home, she took a long shower, tossed her mail aside and fell into her bed. The feel of the mattress after sixteen plus hours without rest was heaven. Her cat, Gunther cuddled up beside her and she drifted off to the sound of his purring.

 

 


	2. Chapter Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's more trouble for Saxa and Agron at the station as they try to find out who their murder victim is amongst the growing turmoil. Things aren't that much better for either one of them outside of work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Update! It's been a while, hasn't it?

She kept getting hit in the nose and she didn’t know if she was dreaming or not. She tried to lift her hand in order to ward off another blow, but she was hit again. Her eyes flew open and she found herself face to face with Gunther. He was chirping softly, ready for his breakfast.  She grunted and rolled over in hopes that she could get another few minutes of sleep. The gray tabby wasn’t having any of it. Before she knew it, Gunther had climbed on top of her head at sat.

“Goddamit, Gunther!” she cried as she sat up. Her cat merely blinked at her and licked his whiskers as if he had not done a thing. She knew it was still too early for her to actually be awake because it was still dark outside. However, she conceded defeat and rolled out of bed.

*****

Agron was already at the station and looking at his computer screen with sheer murder in his eyes. “This is unfuckingbelievable.” He muttered after she greeted him. “Now we can’t get into the department network at all.”

“What’s the matter?” She exclaimed in surprise as she glanced at her own computer.

“Word is we've been hacked.” He said glumly.

“Oh shit! Are we going to have to break out the Commodore 64s?”

“Fuck, we might have to use typewriters.”

“Seriously?”

“Yeah, they're saying IT can’t find anything. It’s as if the computers have been wiped clean.”

Saxa sank in her chair. “Oh this is great, just great.”

“We might as well head out and find some witnesses. We can’t do much sitting on our asses here.” Agron said as he switched off his machine. She didn’t respond as she grabbed her jacket and prepared for a very long day after a horrible start.

By lunchtime, Saxa wanted to bang her head against the steering wheel of her car. The interviews with the people from their potential witnesses list proved to be a colossal waste of time. No one saw anything. No one knew who the girl was, and they wanted to forget that such a thing happened so close to them.

While she and Agron were inhaling lunch at a local Sushi bar, she received a text from Naevia. “She’s finished the autopsy.”

“Can I finish my dragon roll first?” Agron asked between sips of water.

“Please, because there’s no way you’re bringing that smelly shit into the car.”

 

*****

Agron soon regretted rushing his lunch as the smell from the morgue assaulted his nostrils. He swallowed hard as Naevia stood across from them over the partially clad body of their victim.

“The swab tests showed no sign of semen or spermicide. There were no other bruises on the body. There was no alcohol in her blood. Toxicology results will be ready in about two weeks, but all of her organs looked healthy and intact. So as I had confirmed before, the primary cause of death is a gunshot wound to the head.”

“Time of death?” Agron prompted.

“Between 9 P.M. and 12 A.M.”

“Any birthmarks or tats on her?” Saxa asked grimly.

“She has a crucifix tattoo on her right chest.” Naevia answered. Saxa and Agron fell silent for the woman who lay before them. Naevia handed Agron her report for their files. They said their goodbyes and Agron hurried out to escape the smell of disinfectant and death.

Once they made it to Gannicus’ office, they settled wearily into the chairs situated in front of his desk.

“Look, are we going to be back online anytime soon?” Agron demanded.

“IT is telling us three weeks.” Gannicus replied.

Agron groaned, “Holy fuck.”

“Are you telling us we might have to sweat in the records room looking through fingerprint cards?” Saxa whined.

“Probably,” Gannicus smirked. Agron and Saxa both rolled their eyes at that.

“But before you do, call the other precincts and see if there’s been a missing person’s report filed within the last 24 hours. If that’s a dead end, we might have to go to the media.”

“Have we really been hacked?” Saxa whined again.

Gannicus nodded solemnly. “But that information stays within these walls, understand? I have enough on my hands with Lugo mumbling about ISIS and terrorists networks. If he gets riled up enough, we could have a full blown panic here.”

“Got it,” they both murmured. The last time Lugo had gone off the deep end, he had locked himself inside the supply closet with a bullet proof vest on and had refused to budge. It was all because the phone system had been shut down due to a storm. But Lugo was convinced that the station was under siege. He only came out after Gannicus threatened to suspend him a month without pay. It was not one of the department’s finest moments.

Agron bounded out of his chair and started to leave, “Alright, let’s hit these phones.”

Gannicus called after him, “She’ll be along in a minute.”

Saxa eyes grew wide as Agron looked at both of them curiously. It was as if Gannicus hadn’t listened to a word she said the night before.

“I need to talk to Saxa about her upcoming review.” Gannicus said smoothly.

Agron sucked in his breath. “Ooh, good luck with that.” He quickly left the office and Gannicus smirked again.

“You’re cutting in close, chief.” Saxa warned.

“I just wanted to see how you’re doing?” Gannicus asked.

“I’m fine.” She said abruptly.

“Kinda looks like you had a rough night.”

“I was up for sixteen hours straight; I’ve got a dead girl that I can’t identify and the station has been thrown back into the dark ages. So yeah, it hasn’t been pleasant. But why are you concerned?” She said and shrugged.

“What, I can’t show concern for one of my inspectors?”

“Right….Meet me at my house. I should be home by 11.”

Gannicus smiled outright, “Whatever you say, Stranger.”

She left his office then, full of regret. Sooner or later, she was going to get burned for her recklessness and she knew it.

*****

The rest of the day was spent on the phone speaking with cops from other stations and getting the word out to look for any information about a missing young woman. She was in good health and did not look to be on drugs or anything else. The girl had to have family or friends searching for her, at the moment all they could do is wait until they contacted the police.

In the meantime, Saxa and Agron had to watch as their computers were hauled off and sit through meetings about the new work-around protocols. As far as the brass knew, they had no idea who was responsible for the hack. And it was going to be several days before they all could get new equipment. Until then, all information was to be recorded by hand or written on typewriter. Just to cement how real the situation had become, a few dusty Brother typewriters were brought up from the basement. Saxa glanced at Agron and he looked as if he was about to cry.

After he prepared his testimony for an upcoming murder case, Agron decided that he was done for the day. He grumbled his goodbyes to his partner and left for home. When he arrived at his flat, he could hear the television blaring through the front door. That meant that his brother Duro was home. He sneered as he entered. And Duro was in his usual place on the couch, playing a video game. Soda cans were piled on top of the coffee table and he could detect a slight whiff of cigarette smoke in the air. Agron sneered even deeper because he had told his brother not to smoke in the house.

Duro yelped cheerfully, “Hey bro!”

Agron didn’t respond and strode into his bedroom. He hadn’t even had time to finish pissing before Duro was knocking at his door. He flung it open and growled, “What?”

“What’s up with you?” Duro asked, puzzled.

“You honestly want to know?” Agron demanded. Duro took one look at his older brother’s face and thought better of it.

“I just thought…maybe you wanted something to eat.” He said tentatively.

“I’m not hungry.”

“I ordered pizza.”

“With what money?”

Duro opened and then closed his mouth. He didn’t think it was necessary to tell Agron how he got his hands on his cash. His brother knew that he didn’t have a job.

“Look, we went through this: If you want to stay here, you have to get a job-a real one. Don’t think for a second that just because I’m your brother that I won’t haul your arse to jail if you’re getting money by less than legal means.”

Duro held up his hands, “Bro…wait.”

“I mean it, Duro.” Agron huffed and slammed the door. " _My life is going down the crapper,”_ He raged inwardly. He decided to hit the gym for a late night workout in order to calm down before he strangled Duro with his bare hands. He did not know how much more he could take. While he ripped off his dress slacks, his mobile fell out of the pocket and onto the floor with a loud clatter. He picked it up and checked to see if it was damaged. He had a bad habit of destroying phones. The one he held was the third one he had purchased, and it was only June. He checked the  screen to if it was damaged. It looked to be intact so he checked to see if he had received any messages. After his  fight with his ex the night before, he didn’t think he would and he had not. His stomach fell. He just didn’t know how much more he could take.

*****

Saxa arched her back as Gannicus flicked his tongue over her nipple. She slammed her waist into his in order to drive his dick deeper inside her. Even with Gunther mewling relentlessly outside her bedroom door, all she could hear was slapping of their bodies. Her body jerked and she drew her legs to her chest as her orgasm came. Moments later, Gannicus stiffened above her and panted hard as he reached his completion. Once the last shudder rippled through his body, she all but pushed him off of her.

“Whoa, give a bloke a minute!” He chuckled as he rolled onto his back and slipped off his condom.

“It’s too hot to cuddle.” She lied.

“Sure Saxa, whatever you say.” He sighed, sat up and lobbed the wilted piece of rubber into a trash bin that rested next to Saxa's dresser.

She ran her hands through her hair as she watched him. “You want tenderness, I suggest you try elsewhere.”

“I don’t get you.” He said. “Half the time you act like you despise me and then the rest of the time you act like you hate me.”

She turned away from him. “Neither of those apply. It’s just that we can’t afford to have our cover blown.”

He chuckled, “No one’s here but us and your very needy cat. I think it’s okay if we pretend to like each other.”

“Gunther’s not needy,” She said frowning. Just then, another pitiable kitty moan came through the door. “And you know what I mean. There are too many gossips at the station. They can notice the slightest glance or touch. And if they do, it’s only a matter of time before the higher ups downtown find out. That could mean a transfer for me and a demotion for you. I happen to like working homicide. I don’t want to leave.”

“I know, I know but...”

Saxa was about to wave away whatever argument Gannicus was about to come up with when her mobile rang. Welcoming the interruption, she snatched it from her nightstand where it was charging and answered it.

“Hello,” she said.

“Saxa, it’s Donar.”

“What’s up Donar?” She asked, elbowing Gannicus to stop him from grumbling.

“We got an ID on your vic. Someone filled out a missing’s person’s report at the Farmville precinct.”

“Farmville’s a hundred miles away.”

“Yep, looks like the word is out about our hack. Downtown helped get the word out and Farmville sent the info with pictures. Naevia matched them with the girl.”

Saxa paused, “What’s her name?”

“Kore Edwards, and she has a LOT of very important people looking for her.”

 

 


End file.
